That, at least, was an observation from Mike Barrow of Lafayette, a member of the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance, who said that county and municipal management plans for lands bought over the past 30 years "never looked beyond the fence lines" of the specific open-space area covered by that plan.

During a Thursday night opportunity for people to make their own suggestions for future non-motorized recreational trail connections in western Boulder County, Barrow complained that would-be trail users in the Denver area too often are limited now to "a bunch of islands that people have to drive to, to get to."

He said the planning effort presents an opportunity for Boulder County residents to use a trail network they could use to cycle from their homes the foothills and mountains and back, without having to drive their bikes to trailheads.

Eileen Monyok, a Gunbarrel resident, said that "getting people out of their cars should be a key theme, whether they want to commute or want to recreate."

The nearly 40 people who showed up for Thursday night's planning effort kick-off meeting -- the first of 11 being held through early May -- included self-identified hiking enthusiasts, equestrians and climbers, as well as people expressing concerns about trail systems' potential impact on the environmentally sensitive areas, wildlife habitats and private properties neighboring those trails.

Boulder County officials emphasized that no specific trail corridors have been identified or are being presented at this initial round of meetings. They haven't yet even produced a map showing all the existing trails -- and those already in various agencies' plans for the publicly owned properties under study.

"The meat of the meeting," said Garry Sanfacon, a member of the Boulder County commissioners' staff who's serving as public outreach coordinator for the mountain and foothills region planning project, was to have people express their concerns and ideas -- and for the people attending the sessions to "listen to each other."

Boulder County is collaborating with the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the cities of Longmont and Boulder in the project that -- according to one of the handouts distributed at Thursday's meeting -- will try to "consider a range of options for the extent and design of the access points and travel corridors, including the status quo"

MacIntyre feels Colorado is capable of making run at bowl gameCU BUFFS FALL CAMPWhen: 29 practices beginning Wednesday morning 8:30-11 a.m. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday practices are open to the media and public next week. Full Story

It didn't take long for Denver music observers to notice Plume Varia. Husband and wife Shon and Cherie Cobbs formed the band only two years ago, but after about a year they started finding themselves on best-of lists and playing the scene's top venues. Full Story